Former DG appointment case
PESHAWAR: The legal experts believe that actions and arrests made by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) during the tenure of former Director General (DG) Lt-Gen (R) Hamid Khan could be declared void if his appointment was judged illegal and against the law.
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) in a writ petition some weeks ago had questioned the appointment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission DG and commissioners.During the previous hearing, a division bench headed by Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan had sought reply from the provincial government directing it to explain if the appointment of the former KPEC director general, prosecutor general and commissioners were made under the law or in violation of the Ehtesab Act.
The detained KP Member Provincial Assembly and former provincial minister of Mines and Minerals, Ziaullah Afridi, had challenged the appointments.The former minister, who has spent more than a year in prison, prayed in the petition that the appointments of KPEC DG, prosecutor general and commissioners were illegal. He argued that his arrest, registration of cases against him and investigation were also illegal and should be declared as void.
As per the record obtained from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly through Right to Information (RTI) Act, the special secretary of Information Technology, KP Assembly, stated in the letter issued on September 1 last month that the record for the nomination of the KPEC DG and prosecutor general was not sent to the legislative committee.
However, under Section 12 (1) of the KPEC Act 2014 and Section 14 (1) of the KPEC Act, the approval of the nominations of the DG and prosecutor general by the relevant legislative committee is a must before the appointment.
In this case the legislative committee was bypassed. Under the law, the search and scrutiny committee is bound to send the list of nominated persons to the legislative committee for final approval.
Senior lawyer Aminur Rehman Yousafzai told The News that as per the KPEC Act, approval of the nomination of the DG and prosecutor general from the legislative committee of the KP Assembly was mandatory.
He said the actions of the KPEC and arrests ordered by it could be declared void and illegal if the court termed the appointments void.
Muhammad Ayaz Khan, a senior advocate of the Peshawar High Court, said it was amazing that the provincial government didn’t follow the law in filling out the key positions at the KPEC. He opined that the suspects arrested under the act in cases of corruption and misuse of authority could benefit from it if the court declared the appointments void.
The court had asked the government to explain its position regarding the appointment of the former KPEC DG Lt Gen (R) Hamid Khan and the commissioners.As per the KP Ehtesab Commission Act 2014, the petition stated, the appointment of commissioners was the legislative committee’s responsibility.
It was submitted that a meeting of the legislative committee was held on March 26, 2014, but an advertisement for the appointment of KPEC officials was published before the meeting.He said the names of the commissioners were mentioned in the advertisement so that public objections over their appointment could be received.
It was contended that 20 years of experience in anti-corruption affairs was one of the prerequisites in the advertisement, but the commissioners appointed in the Ehtesab Commission included retired officials such as a grade 20 principal and a controller of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.
The petitioner pointed out that those appointed as commissioners were not mentioned in the advertisement and most of those whose names had been published were dropped.It was added that presence of at least five members was mandatory for a meeting of the legislative committee, but only two members attended the meeting held to approve the list containing names of commissioners.
It said notification on the formation of commission was issued on August 20, 2014 and as per law the commissioners had to appoint the director general, but advertisement for the appointment of DG was published on March 17, 2014.
The petition pointed out that the DG was appointed before the commissioners while according to Ehtesab Commission Act, the commissioners ought to be appointed prior to the DG.It noted that it has been proved that rules and regulations were violated in the appointment of DG and commissioners as was evident from the dates of publication of the advertisements.
“It is evident from the resignation of the DG KPEC that he was appointed directly and his name was not sent to the commissioners. As a result the commission’s action against Ziaullah Afridi was illegal and unconstitutional,” the petition argued.